A more eventful day than expected suffering a flat tyre whilst at work on Yell requiring the wheel to be changed before returning to the garage on Unst. At least getting home early meant I had time to check a few sites seeing 4 Spotted Flycatchers at Norwick and the lingering Reed Warbler at Skaw.
Reed Warbler at Skaw
With a wing length of just 64mm and all other biometrics supporting its identification as a Reed Warbler its appearance remains strikingly pallid and open-faced and it's bill deformity resulting in it never being truly closed makes it appear short and thick - hence Marsh Warbler-like. In many respects - cold-toned appearance, pale edges to its tertials, secondaries and tertials, primary wear and colour of its rump - it appears similar to the genetically-confirmed (and slightly longer-winged) Reed Warbler trapped at Falsterbo, Sweden in June 2013 featured here.
